


Olive's Arrival

by greerwatson



Series: Christmas at the Clubhouse [1]
Category: RENAULT Mary - Works
Genre: Christmas, Gen, ITOWverse, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-21 06:09:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6041098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greerwatson/pseuds/greerwatson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aunt Olive arrives at the vicarage for Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Olive's Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> This story was posted originally to the [maryrenaultfics](http://maryrenaultfics.livejournal.com) LiveJournal community as a gift to the members for Christmas in 2009.

She leaned back, her handbag tidily in her lap, and looked out of the window past the hedgerows that blurred close by the tracks to the frosted fields beyond.   _Is your journey really necessary?_ Yes, she thought.  Christmas on her own would have been empty, even though she would, of course, have helped with the church rota; it would be so much more pleasant to visit her cousin for a proper family do. 

Lucy had arranged for a car to be waiting for Olive at the station:  the vicarage was just that bit too far; her bag just that bit too heavy; and Mr Straike did not drive, and might, in any case, be busy.  The work of the parish was never done, as Olive had heard more than once.

Yet, as she greeted her cousin at the vicarage door, it was obvious that she was happy.  Marriage more than agreed with her: she blossomed with her new responsibilities.  Olive unpacked her bag in the guest room, washed her face, and made her way down to join Lucy in the parlour.

“No, Laurie can’t make Christmas,” she was told.  “He can’t get the leave.”  That minor ministry job: nothing important, but _useful_ , you know.  A young man with a sound background and Oxford degree, Laurie had naturally been snapped up for a government office job.  (Olive murmured and nodded as expected, though she had heard this all before.  Lucy had hopes the job would lead to advancement to a civil service career:  Olive, who knew her nephew, had her doubts.)

Naturally, there were many ways in which Olive found that she was expected to make herself useful, and she was only too glad to help out.  There was no doubt that, as the vicar’s wife, Lucy was busy.  There would be festivities in the village and at the church; and Lucy was determined that darling Gareth would have as close to normal Christmas cheer as could be managed, despite the wartime privations.

It was Olive who, simply by way of contrast, remembered the munificence of the Mary Renault celebrations earlier in the year.  It was Lucy, on the other hand, who wondered whether some of the supplies laid in for the feast might linger in the pantry at the Community’s house—and whether, perhaps, no one might notice if those supplies might be borrowed for the duration.  “In the circumstances,” she added, with a certainty that put Olive’s reservations to silence.


End file.
